Perplexity has turned its AI answer engine into a mobile assistant on Android. The new assistant can answer general questions and perform tasks on your behalf, such as writing an email, setting a reminder, booking dinners, and more.Its also multimodal, meaning you can ask it questions about whats on your screen as well as have it open your camera and see whats in front of you. In an example shared by Perplexity, a user asks the assistant to get me a ride. Once it learns where the user wants to go, the assistant automatically opens Uber with available rides to that destination.I tried it out for myself, and it is kind of neat. When I asked it to open up a good podcast, my phone started playing the latest episode of The Joe Rogan Experience on YouTube. It worked rather quickly, even though its taste may be questionable.Perplexity gave me the rundown on these promotional Pokmon cards. Screenshots: The VergeUsing my phones camera, Perplexitys assistant successfully identified the promotional Pokmon pack I got in a McDonalds Happy Meal (dont judge), which I found impressive since the promotion only started a couple of days ago. It also helped me write and send a text to a family member using the information in my contacts.Alongside Samsungs announcement of the Gemini-equipped Galaxy S25, Google revealed that its AI assistant can now complete tasks across multiple apps, as well as complete multimodal requests.RelatedBut Perplexitys assistant doesnt work across every app and with every feature. Its not able to access Slack or Reddit, for example, and I also couldnt use it to leave a comment on a YouTube video. Right now, the assistant supports Spotify, YouTube, and Uber, along with email, messaging, and clock apps, according to Perplexity spokesperson Sara Platick. Were continuing to add support for more apps and more functionality though, so this is just the starting point, Platnick adds.You can enable the assistant through the Perplexity app, which prompts you to replace your phones default assistant with Perplexity. From there, you can swipe up on the left corner of your screen or hold down your home button to access the assistant.Its currently not available on the iPhone, however. If Apple gives us the right permissions, well make it happen, Platnick says.